James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State. How many times since the last general election have I heard that the Government essentially bought it on promises? The instances are impossible to count. Time and again we hear of cuts in education, health, disabled grants and services and housing grants. It never stops, although we were assured prior to the election that there would be no cutbacks.

I have evidence from the literature distributed by Fianna Fáil and Progressive Democrats candidates, from Cork to Donegal and Galway to Dublin, including my county of Longford, stating there would be no cutbacks. Members will agree that moral responsibility should come with such promises. If the Government had a vestige of moral responsibility, the country would not be in the mess it is in today.

The Minister for Health and Children has a moral obligation to the sick and to people dying on trolleys, for whom there should be hospital places. Where are the 300 beds he promised in his health strategy document, which was launched two years ago with a great deal of hullabaloo? They are, I presume, hidden from view in the increasing number of closed wards. The Minister also has a moral obligation to the disabled and to the elderly.

What about the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform's moral obligation as crime on our streets – which are becoming increasingly dangerous no-go areas for citizens and tourists – rises to crisis levels?

The Minister for Education and Science has a moral obligation to children and students to provide them with safe buildings. Look at what happened in Limerick last week. Similar disasters are waiting to happen in several other counties.